H-Hour
''H-Hour ''is the first mission in ''Danger Close: Art of War''.'' Characters *Private Samuel Ruiz *Corporal Mike McDonnell *Private Zayden Johns *Sergeant Ronald Mill *Captain Shawcross *Randomly generated NPCs Mission Day one of the invasion. A 500,000-strong coalition force led by the US military crossed the Saudi Arabian border into Iraq. The USMC 1st Recon Battalion deployed infantry via UH-1Y Venom helicopters. Private Samuel Ruiz from 1st Recon Bn. looked outside the window to see dozens of helicopters escorted by fighter jets converge on the port city of Umm Qasr, Iraq's only deep-sea port. "All the civilians have been evacuated and there's only one battalion-sized infantry unit defending the city. Intel says there's no armour in the city. We expect this to be an easy mission but keep your eyes peeled and move carefully, don't let your guard down just because we're not expecting heavy resistance." Captain A. Shawcross, commander of Ruiz's company, affirmed. :- "Hey Sarge, why exactly are we in Iraq again? Is this what voting Independent gets you?." Private Ruiz sardonically commented to his CO, Sgt. Mill. :- "Remember the massacre in the Panagiot Oil Complex? 152 Americans killed, all by Al-Namir's death squads?. Yeah..." :- "Geez, I don't know Sarge, do you really believe that's how it went down? Lots of things don't add up from that story... It may be hard to believe, but we've been fighting these guys on and off for longer than I've been alive; every single time there's a new reason for it, too." :- "Look, private, if you want a serious discussion on the topic, I'm not your guy. Leave me alone and let me do my job." The helicopter finally reached its objective, and Ruiz and company rappelled down from the helicopter. Ruiz cocked his HK416 and stood vigilant as the rest of his unit finished deploying. Private Ruiz was a young recruit hailing from New York City: he and his parents had recently immigrated from the Dominican Republic when the 9/11 attacks occurred, and both his parents were afflicted with serious health issues as a result of the contamination that ensued. Pledging to prevent those events from unfolding again, Ruiz enlisted in the Marine Corps and hoped his efforts would help put an end to the war on terror. Months later, however, Ruiz would find himself fighting war against a sovereign nation that - as far as he was concerned - did not cause any harm to him or his country. The Marines stood vigilant on the derelict town of Umm Qasr, almost entirely flat save for the gantry cranes and the towering stacks of shipping containers on the other side of a chain-link fence on the USMC deployment site. "Bravo Company, on me!" ordered Captain Shawcross, "Not a damn Hajji is in sight, they're all hiding - waiting for us to walk into their ambush. We got mortars a few clicks back to blow the hell out of their position. Once they flush them out of hiding, we charge in and finish 'em off." Infantrymen stood at ease as mortar crews began shelling the port, knocking down stacks of containers and destroying improvised concrete forts. Within minutes of the shelling, Iraqi infantrymen abandoned their positions and charged at the US Marines. "Contact! Enemy soldiers!", Cpl. McDonnell fired his bipod-mounted M249, laying down a pattern of fire that deterred the Iraqi charge. "Suppressive fire!". A few Iraqi soldiers, stuck between mortar shelling and machine gun fire, quickly surrendered with minimal casualties. The first to surrender was an Iraqi platoon sergeant who put down his Kalashnikov rifle and raised his hands, indicating his surrender to the US Marine Corps. "Weapons down! Ruiz, Johns, search him!" ordered Sgt. Mill as he kept his rifle trained on the enemy sergeant. Ruiz and Johns quickly apprehended him, pinning him down on the ground and searching him for any rigged explosives. :- "Don't get upset, boss. This is just like a routine stop-and-frisk in NYC." joked Ruiz. :- "Hey if you think this is bad, you never taken a flight stateside and had the TSA feeling your privates." quipped Johns, only 18 years old and one of the youngest recruits in the company. :- "He's clean Sarge!" Both Marines escorted the Iraqi sergeant as his hands were tied with a zip-tie. Around the area, dozens more Iraqi soldiers had surrendered and were now under US custody. At least 30 prisoners sat under the watchful eye of the USMC 1st Recon Bn. Sgt. Mill walked up to the Iraqi sergeant, squatted to be at eye level and beckoned at him: :- "Hey, boss, can you understand me? Do you speak English?" :- "Yes, English is ok" replied the prisoner, nervously and doubtful of his own English. :- "Who are you: what is your name, your rank?" :- "Rank?" :- "Yes, your rank" replied Mill, then pointed at his own rank insignia on his uniform. "Your rank - what is your job here?" :- "Ah... ''Raqeeb Iskandar Qasim... Sergeant... 2nd platoon, 3rd company, 10th Infantry battalion." :- "How many more of your men are here?" :- "200 more... All my platoon gave up" replied the prisoner, raising his hands to emphasize his comment. :- "Very well. I'm gonna tell you this from soldier to soldier. We don't want to kill you guys. I want you to come with me and tell your guys to surrender. In return I promise we'll treat your guys well, and send you all home as soon as this war is over." Qasim - the prisoner - was compliant. He agreed to tell the rest of his battalion to surrender, trusting that Sgt. Mill would keep his promise. However, Sgt. Mill's plan had not been approved by Cpt. Shawcross yet; knowing Shawcross, he knew it would be unlikely he would tolerate such action, but he knew by now how to get around Shawcross' narrow-mindedness. Mill helped Qasim off the ground and grabbed him from the left arm, taking him to see Shawcross. :- "Captain, my friend Qasim here has agreed to help us: we're gonna go to the front and he's gonna talk to his commander, and they'll surrender to us. We'll have this here port secured in no time - no bullets fired, no casualties. All we ask is to borrow an interpreter." :- "Sergeant, exactly how do you expect me to trust your judgement? The war's just started and they have no reason to surrender yet. Don't you realize you're walking into a trap?" an unimpressed Shawcross replied, towering over Mill, who stood six inches shorter than him. :- "Article 37 of the Geneva Conventions: they cannot pretend to surrender to entrap us, they'd be committing a war crime." :- "The whole reason we're in this hellhole is because they committed a war crime. I wouldn't put it past them, Sergeant." :- "To hell with it, if you want to go back to high command and explain to them that you chose to get your Marines killed when you could have just negociated an enemy surrender, that's your problem. I'm sure you'd know what to say this time around, right 'Major'?" replied Mill in an angry tone. An embarrassed Shawcross immediately backed down and allowed Mill to carry on with his plan; he called Private Ruiz by whistling and met with an Arabic interpreter before heading to meet the Iraqi battalion commander. Mill, Ruiz, Qasim and the interpreter walked carefully towards the Iraqi position. Ruiz kept his rifle trained on his surroundings, while Mill kept a watchful eye, staying uncomfortably close to Qasim as he escorted him. He reasoned, that by staying close to one of theirs, the Iraqi soldiers would not shoot at him. "Hey, boss, maybe you should call for your commander" Mill said to Qasim. Qasim reached for his radio, but the interpreter quickly stopped him and said, "No. I'll do it." The interpreter picked up the radio and requested to speak with the commander of the battalion defending the port, also informing all callsigns on Iraqi channels of the capture of Umm Qasr port. The commander replied, introducing himself as Lieutenant Colonel Daoudi. Lt. Col. Daoudi, accompanied by three soldiers armed with Kalashnikovs, soon appeared in front of the four men. Mill raised his rifle; Ruiz aimed down at the three Iraqi soldiers accompanying Daoudi. "Put your weapons down. We don't want to shoot you." called out Mill, "Your man Qasim wishes to speak to you." Qasim addressed Daoudi in the appropriate manner, and both men began speaking in Arabic. The three soldiers escorting Daoudi lowered their rifles and allowed the two men to speak. The interpreter translated their exchange for Mill and Ruiz: :- "The Lieutenant Colonel does not want to surrender. He says he will have Qasim court-martialed for treason." :- "Tell the Lieutenant Colonel that he cannot do that as Qasim is now our prisoner. If we cannot make him surrender, we will strong-arm his battalion to surrender: 500,000 soldiers from 20 different countries are parked just beyond the Saudi border, we've already got command of the sea, and if our intel is correct we are poised to achieve air supremacy within the next two weeks; if he doesn't give up now, most of his battalion will probably end up dead within the next two months. Is that something he wants in his conscience?" Mill replied to the interpreter. The interpreter spoke to the Lieutenant Colonel, who replied in a bitter tone. :- "He says his soldiers know what to expect from their job. This is a war." :- "Well, Lt. Col. Daoudi, you can choose to resist US military might at your own peril, but you owe it to your men to give them the option." The interpreter relayed the message to the Iraqi commander. The officer begrudgingly complied, calling all of his troops via radio: he informed his battalion about their situation and offered them the option to surrender. Within a few minutes, the entire Iraqi battalion had surrendered, with only Lt. Col. Daoudi resisting. The Iraqi officer saw all 200 of his men put their rifles down and abandon their posts, and then promptly be taken into custody by US Marines. "The choice is yours, good sir. It's too late for glory now. Would you rather return to your post and face certain death, or surrender to us and spare yourself?" Mill asked, looking directly at him. Despite silence from the interpreter, the officer understood what was said and stretched his arms, allowing Mill and Ruiz to apprehend him with zip-ties. "You've made the wise choice, hoss. Saved us both a lot of pain today" Ruiz said to the officer as he and Mill escorted him to the Marine entrenchment. As Ruiz and company appeared in sight of the Marine battalion, he said, :- "Caught me a big fish today! 200-pounder, bit hairy on the face, but a good catch nonetheless." Joking about Lt. Col. Daoudi's thick greying moustache, which was seemingly almost mandatory for all Iraqi officers. With roughly 200 prisoners, the US capture of the port of Umm Qasr was the first victory for the coalition during the course of the invasion, with only five casualties on the Iraqi side, and zero US casualties.